Research, Expert Opinions, Explorations (All: p4)

The Best Fall Prevention Program

Concerned about Falls? This article is designed to help you decide which (if any) is the best Fall Prevention Program for you. And to help you choose between the Fall Prevention programs available in your town, state and country.

Fall Prevention Exercises for Seniors

We look at different options for the fall prevention exercises component of a fall prevention program, and how to decide which "exercises for seniors" program would work best to reduce your fall risk, in this second part of our work on choosing the right fall prevention program.

Best Lighted Cane

Our Explorer circles of older adults wanted a walking cane with a light that would help make getting out at night safer. The Explorers found some promising lighted canes online, purchased a few that looked especially good, tried them out, and decided on one which was "the best".

Toenail Clippers for Elderly People

Our circles of older adults have been exploring toenail clippers for elderly people. They explain that older adults often have nails that are hard to cut or hard to reach. The explorers are especially interested in toenail clippers for thick toenails, and toenail clippers that will work when a person has arthritis, and thus can not exert a strong grip on the nail clipper.

Caring from Afar: Guide to Home Sensor Systems

Read our report on this new category of products, designed to help seniors stay at home longer, and to help their families worry about them less. There are important lessons to be learned about which ones work, and for which types of circumstance they are optimal.

Ideas for Apps for Seniors

At a conference organized by San Francisco's Institute on Aging, I ran an interactive "exploration", in which we asked attendees to vote on "Senior Apps they Like", or to submit ideas they have for "There should be an App for that". We got quite a few interesting ideas, and this article reports the results of the session.

Best Rollator (Walker) for You

When acquiring a Rollator or Walker, which features matter for a given individual? And how does one decide which walker or rollator to get for yourself, or a friend? This is the theme of this Explorer Insight report from explorer Don S.

Fall proofing ME: What Can I Do?

The media is awash with stories about older adults falling and hurting themselves, and these reports usually mention that one in three of those over 65 will fall each year. This article is about what you can do to make falls less likely.

Improving Cinema Experience for the Vision Impaired

I recently became aware of an entire ecosystem of services to help people with all levels of vision impairment enjoy movies. These services provide an audio description of the visual scene. It's a bit like subtitles, but for the blind. Of course these services can help those with other vision impairments as well. This article explains how this all works.

Lighted Magnifier: Read menus in dim light

Reading under poor lighting conditions is a common problem, not only for reading menus, but also for reading in bed, or seeing small type in a poorly lit space. What is needed is some type of lighted magnifier. There are four categories of solutions for this common problem. The pro’s and con’s of each solution are detailed below, as well as in the individual product listings we link to.

The Paradox of Good UX Design for Seniors

Seniors report avoiding, or using in as stealth a manner as possible, technologies that would improve the quality of their lives — even enhance their safety — because they are associated with or specifically designed for the elderly. The paradox, then, for good UX design that addresses seniors’ needs is to do so without explicitly seeming to target the “old.”

Inventor Road Trip

Earlier this month we invited the inventor of a new type of walker to come along to one of the Longevity Collective circle meetings and show the older adults members of our circle the prototype of her invention and get their feedback. It was pretty interesting. This article is about the experience.

Avoid the Perils of Falling

Read the "best of the web" on: Avoiding Falling. Our team of clinicians and citizen analysts has scoured the web for the best available answers to a set of questions designed to help you make falling less likely, and make the consequences if you do fall less bad.

Working at 90 and designing for age

Best Books on Aging Parents

Over the last 18 months I have talked with literally hundreds of people who have realized they now have an extra "job" that they were not expecting: engaging one way or another in looking out for an aging parent. Many of them wanted a "guide" to Caring for Aging Parents, and asked for recommendations. Sure enough, there are a number of books on aging parents on Amazon. I decided I wanted to find the most popular, and then read them and see whether I could identify a handful of them to recommend next time someone asks for a Guide to Aging Parents. This article is the first installment in my journey and focuses on which are the top selling books in this category (presumably the ones others have found most relevant).

A Conversation You Haven't Had with Your Doctor...But Should

Drug company advertisements often end with the phrase “Ask your Doctor about…” followed by the newest drug being promoted. While surely they mean to ask if the new drug is right for you to start taking, I suggest a different question to ask your Doctor: “Of all the drugs prescribed for me, which one is most important for me to take correctly?”

My Plan to Avoid the Terror of Short Term Memory Loss

My mother has severe short term memory loss. As her caregiver, I have found that her short term memory impairment has many adverse consequences. My experience with my mother has made me concerned about how I could avoid the horrors that come with short term memory loss when it inevitably hits me in the future.

While I cannot prevent short term memory loss, I do believe that I can mitigate the confusion and anxiety that comes with not being able to mentally track my daily activities. My solution is a simple technological memory prosthesis – a “wearable” calendar. This article describes my idea and how I am implementing it.

Fall proofing your house: a checklist

For the older adult worried about falls, one of the most important tasks is to "fall-proof" your house. There are numerous services you can retain to help with this. But how do you know they have done the right things? And, if you are the friend or family of an older adult, how can you do a "check" to make sure the house of the person you care for is relatively well "fall-proofed"? Here is a useful checklist developed by the Executive Director of Marin Villages.

Arthritis Sufferers: Struggling with Clothing?

We have been looking for good arthritis clothing solutions. These products range from various special shoes for arthritis to a special type of arthritis bra. This article uses videos from around the web to demonstrate some of those solutions, and we add our comments and questions.

Featured Research

Medical Alert Systems: Help

We kept getting asked "which medical alert system is best?"; and "how do I choose the right medical alert system for me?". This independent, objective, hands-on research tries to answer those questions. If you are looking for a medical alert system, either for yourself or for an older adult such as a parent, this piece of research is for you.

Useful Apps Club

Unlock the potential of your smartphone or tablet to improve your life. The Useful Apps Club is for older adults and Boomers who have a smartphone or tablet (or are thinking of getting one) and need help to turn it into a useful tool. We are focused on finding Apps that can change your life, and teaching you how to use them.

Reduce Fall Risk

Read the "best of the web" on: Avoiding Falling. Our team of clinicians and citizen analysts has scoured the web for the best available answers to a set of questions designed to help you make falling less likely, and make the consequences if you do fall less bad.

Guide: Home Sensor Systems

Read our report on this new category of products, designed to help seniors stay at home longer, and to help their families worry about them less. There are important lessons to be learned about which ones work, and for which types of circumstance they are optimal.